Worse Games to Play
by ManningFan51
Summary: When a young boy from District 7 arrives in 13, Johanna Mason feels something more than just a reminder of home: love.
1. Waking Up

**Author's Note: So this is my first story, ever. Tried to find a love story for Johanna where she wasn't paired with Katniss, and ended up writing this instead. Not finished yet, not even close really. Hope you like it. Review please. I do not own any characters created by Suzanne Collins.**

The empty room had filled with the scent of pine by the time Johanna awoke. Katniss and the group had left a few days earlier, and District 13 hadn't heard anything from them since. Although she was somewhat worried about her friends, the District 7 native was more bothered by the knock at the door.

"Ms. Mason," a kind voice said from the hallway. The person tapped the door again. "Johanna, can I please come in? It's just me, Lily." The young girl had been at Johanna's constant beck and call ever since she escaped from the Capitol.

Still in bead, Johanna grunted as she got up, not wanting to be be taken from her slumber. She stumbled across the cold floor of her bunk room until she reached the door. After unlocking it, Lily ambled in as Johanna laid back down on her bed. When the young girl sat down on Katniss' old bed, she let her auburn hair out of the ponytail it had been in. The fire-like locks conflicted with the very plain, gray 13 uniform she was wearing. Although Johanna had known her for a few months, she had no clue as to what district she came from. "Lily?"

"Yes?"

"What district are you from?"

"Four." As she said it, Johanna noticed the sea green eyes behind her glasses dazzle.

"I should have known." Johanna smiled as she remembered her favorite red head. "You look like Finnick. You must have enjoyed his and Annie's wed-"

"Johanna, not to be rude, but why are you talking to me?" Lily looked down at the linoleum tiled floor as she cut her off. "I mean, I've basically been your assisstant for four months and you've hardly said three words to me before now."

"So you're wondering why the sudden change?" The two looked at each other, and Lilly nodded yes. "I guess it's because you're basically the only _friend_ I have left. Well, you and Annie." There was an awkward silence for a few seconds until Johanna started again. "The better question is why are are you here? You normally aren't the one to wake me up."

"You've been cooped up in here for too long, Johanna," Lily said shyly. "People are beginning to worry about you. Ecspecially after the incident." Unwanted memories of torture leaked back into her mind when Lily said this. She tried to force them to go away, back to the dark places in her head.

"Annie's worried, isn't she?" Lily shook her head in agreement for a second time. Although she and Johanna had never been very close, Annie had always looked out for her. The two became friends when they were both young mentors in the 72nd Games. "I guess I'm all she has left, too."

"She sent me to get you dressed and out of your room." She glanced down at the floor again. "You don't have to listen to me. I can't make you." Lily had tried to get her ready one morning when they first met. She learned her lesson when Johanna threatened her to get out while wielding an axe.

Lily prepared to get rushed out of the room, but was suprised when Johanna mumbled, "Okay," and got up.

"Well that was easy," Lily murmured under her breath, still sitting on the bed. "Does this mean you'll shower?"

Johanna threw a shoe at her from the bathroom.


	2. Not Alone Anymore

**Author's Note: Again, I do not own any characters created by Suzanne Collins. Hope you enjoy it. Read and review, please.**

After an hour of complaints and screaming, Johanna finally agreed to take a shower. The newly bathed girl unwillingly trudged around the cafeteria looking for Annie while holding a tray filled with gray mush. Breakfast. She spotted the dark-haired brunette across the room and weaved her way past other tables. "Morning," she mumbled as she sat down.

"Hi," Annie whispered. Although she said it in her kind, quiet voice, Annie looked at her strangely. Johanna disregarded it, but after three minutes of the awkward staring, Johanna looked up from her food and gave her a death glare. She raised her eybrow in question, wondering why Annie was acting so weird. "You obviously haven't heard yet." Annie began eating her breakfast again.

Johanna looked at her strangely now. "Heard about what?" she questioned.

Annie looked back up and started with, "Two guards found a boy from 7 at the gates last night."

Johanna was shocked with disbelief. "From 7?" she asked. _That's on the opposite side of Panem. Why would anyone walk that far?_

"Yeah. He's in the hospital right now being checked over," Annie said plainly. "I thought Lily would have told you."

_Do I know him? What does he look like? Did I go to school with him?_ Questions filled up Johanna's head immeadiately. "Do you know his name?"

"No. That's all I've heard."

"Annie, I'm sorry but-"

"It's okay Johanna," Annie said, cutting her off. "I understand."

Johanna smiled as she stood. "Thanks. See you later?" Annie shook her head. Johanna collected her tray and left silently.

Johanna walked down the corridors of the hospital, looking for one of the only nurses that still liked her. She turned a corner and found who she'd been looking for. "Mrs. Everdeen?"

Katniss' mother looked up from behind the white counter where she had been reading information on a clipboard. "I figured you would be here today. You're here to see him, aren't you? The boy from 7?"

"What do you know about him?"

"Not much. He's told us his name, age, and that he escaped the bombings in 7." She handed Johanna the clipboard for him. "He's been cleared for visitors, but he doesn't talk a lot. He's in that room." She pointed to the door directly behind Johanna.

She began to read the given information. _Full Name: __Ridge Oakley_.

_Ridge?_ she asked in her head. _Ridge Oakley? Blight's brother?_

"You know him, don't you?" Johanna saw Mrs. Everdeen's face of worry when she looked up from the clipboard.

A tear rolled down her face as she remembered her fellow victor. "Yeah," she uttered. Johanna tried to put on a fake smile. "He was Blight's younger brother. He was my neighbor in 7."

Mrs. Everdeen rested a hand on top of Johanna's for comfort. "Maybe he'll talk to a friend."

Johanna shook her head and wiped away the tear. She tried to compose herself, and she was somewhat successful. Johanna handed Mrs. Everdeen the clipboard back and stepped towards the door.

When she opened it, Johanna saw the tall, young man she'd come to know during the past four years. The twenty-year-old brunette was pale and looked frail as he slept in the hospital bed. His forehead was sprinkled with beads of sweat. When Johanna quietly closed the door, Ridge must have heard it. He sprung up from his slumber and breathed heavily. _Bombing nightmare_. As he began to calm down, Ridge noticed his friend from 7 standing by the door.

A smile spread across his face. "Johanna Mason," he drawled out. "You're a sight for sore eyes."


	3. The Brother of Blight

**Author's Note: Hope you like the new chapter. Read and review, please. Again, I do not own the characters created by Suzanne Collins.**

On their way home from dinner at a friend's house one night, the Oakley family was attacked by a mountain lion. The two boys ran, leaving their parents behind. When they returned, they found the beast gone and their parents' remains. Because Blight was eighteen, he recieved guardianship of Ridge.

The Oakley's were never rich, but the parents, Hunter and Robin, owned a handmade furniture buisness. The money from the shop made them have enough to get by easily. But after they were buried, Blight closed the shop. Blight tried to earn money by working in the lumber yard and hunted illeagally outside the grounds as well. The brothers still struggled, though.

While on the brink of starvation, the fifteen-year-old Ridge stole two loaves of bread and got caught. Unlike District 12 at the time, the Peacekeeper rule had always been strictly enforced. Ridge was publicly beaten, branded, and wipped in the town's square, leaving his face and body bruised, scraped, and a singed 7 on his right cheek. Three days later, Blight was reaped for the 69th. One day before his nineteenth birthday. But looking back on that day, both brothers eventually agreed that Blight being reaped was one of the best things that ever happened to them. But that was the only thing they liked about the Games.

The Games changed the boys for better and worse. After moving into the Victor's Village, both recieved the necessary health and food they'd needed. Blight had gotten a doctor to treat Ridge's wounds. The brothers finally reached a healthy weight. But Blight suffered every night. He was awoken by nightmares starring his victims from the Games. Periodically, the mad dreams featured the death of his parents as well. It didn't help that he had to mentor in the Games every year later. That was, until he met Johanna.

They'd gotten to know each other pretty well during her training. They opened up to each other; he told her about his family. The night before she left for the arena, they specifically talked about Ridge and her older brothers. He talked about Ridge's rub with death and his stubborn personality. "You'd like him," he said. "He's a lot like you."

Johanna remebered all the things Blight had told her that week and all the fun the three had together for the four years after she'd won the games. Blight had been right. She and Ridge were a lot alike. After Snow killed her family, the Oakley brothers became her only _family_ left. And in a way, Snow killed another one her family members. Now Ridge was all she had left. "You're a sight for sore eyes," he said.

Johanna smiled and her cheeks grew red. "As are you Ridge." She sat down in the uncomfortable chair on his right.

"Is it possible that I see the rough, tough, and stubborn Miss Johanna Mason blushing?" He feigns shock and begins to laugh quietly. "So you're one of the rebels, huh?"

"Yeah," Johanna mumbled.

"Then why aren't you out fighting with the girl on fire?"

Johanna's grin broke to a serious demeanor. "Snow water tortured me." She stared at the floor. "I failed the final training test because of it."

The grim silence was broken by Johanna's soft cries. Ridge reached out his hand and patted her on the back. "Hey," he whispered. "Johanna. Don't let them get to you again. You can't let them break you like last time. Alright?"

Johanna shook her head, knowing what he meant. She looked up when he moved the hand away. She noticed a huge covered gash on his arm and then another one on the back of his neck. "Ridge, what are those from?"

He glanced down at his arm and tried to change the subject. "What's up with all the gray in Distri-"

"Ridge," she said, her temper rising. "Tell me where those came from."

Ridge looked at her and breathed deeply. "They're from the bombings in 7. A riot started after Blight died. Luckily, I had already had my stuff packed. 1/24. Odds didn't really seem to be in Blight's favor. I was going to have to leave the village anyway. I immeadiately left after he ran into the forcefield. They started dropping bombs on my way out. One fell a few yards away from me. I haven't ran into any 7 survivors."

"Looks like we're the only ones left then." Johanna turned her attention back to the bandages. "You didn't get those dressed 'til now?"

"No. 5 hadn't rebelled by the time I got there. I found a small group of rebels that sewed them up. They're just clean bandages." Ridge tried to take the bad memories off their minds. "So about this gray uniform. What does a guy have to do to get some blue jeans and flannel around here?"


	4. Neighbors Again

**Author's Note: Here's the 4th chapter. Hope you like this one. I don't own Suzanne Collins' characters. Read and review!**

"I feel like they're trying to make me feel uncomfortable," Ridge mumbled under his breath. He and Johanna were eating their gray, mushy dinner in the mess hall. He'd finally gotten out after his vitals had raised. The wounds on his arm and neck weren't his only problems when he had arrived in 13. He was extremely dehydrated and almost caught pneumonia from the freezing winter chill. Due to lack of extra space, Ridge used the spare bed in Johanna's room. The old neighbors were once again neighbors.

"And you'll never get used to it," she smirked. The color in his face had returned, and his forest colored eyes weren't hazed anymore.

He began to scratch in between his shoulder blades. "These are the itchiest clothes I've ever worn." He looked at the ugly uniform that had replaced his rugged mountain man attire.

"Says the guy who grew up in soft flannel shirts and faded jeans. And don't scratch there." Johanna motioned toward the back of his neck where he was bandaged. "You don't want that to bleed again."

"And what's with this so called food?" He picked up the tray and gently laid it back on table. "I ate better stuff when I was starving." They finished their food and began their walk back to the shared room without another word.

The two reached their quarters, and Ridge jumped on his bed as soon as Johanna opened the door. "Oh, how I've missed having my own bed," he said into the uncomfortable pillow. "No matter how stiff this mattress is." He sat up when he noticed the scent of pine needles. He pointed at them. "Where'd those come from?"

"Katniss got them for me one day when she went hunting."

"She sounds nice."

Johanna smiled, reminiscing on her friend. They began to get ready for bed. Even though he'd been there for two days and had slept as often as he could, Ridge was still exhausted by 8:30. Johanna didn't blame him. Hiking cross country would do that to a person. She pretended that she was tired so he wouldn't feel bad. They both laid on their beds. Just as Ridge was drifting off into slumber, Johanna spoke up. "Are you going to go back to 7? After the war's over, I mean."

A minute passed. Johanna figured Ridge had fallen asleep. She turned and faced the wall. "Yes." Johanna turned back around flicked the lamp on. "I'm going to go back to 7 after the war's done. Aren't you?"

"Yeah probably." She paused and looked into his deep green eyes. "What do you miss the most?"

He took a moment to contemplate. Ridge groggily rolled over on to his side. "The trees. The way they smell. They way they feel. I remember when Blight and I would go out early, like before dawn, and go chop down trees until noon. We'd have a fire going for days." He looked up and saw her chesnut eyes staring into his. "What about you? What do you miss?"

She thought and a smile appeared on her face. "I actually don't know. I guess I miss all of it." Johanna laughed quietly. "So what are you going to do when you move back?"

"Me? Let's see." He turned on to his back and stared at the ceiling. "I guess it all depends on how bad the bombings were." Ridge breathed in and out heavily. "If they weren't that bad, I'll either try to get a house in the Victor's Village or a higher end one in my hometown. If there's enough people, I might open up my father's shop. I've gotten pretty good at being a carpenter now." He paused for a moment before he added, "Maybe I'll settle down with a girl there, if I'm lucky enough to find someone. Maybe have a few kids along the way, since the Games will most likely be over. And if the bombings were bad, I guess I'll build myself a log cabin or something. Be a real mountain man. If there's any survivors there, maybe I'll fall for one of them, I guess." A few minutes had passed before he noticed that Johanna had gone quiet. "Johanna? You still up?"

"Yeah, I'm still here. I guess I've just never thought about that kinda stuff before."

"What? Housing?" Ridge began to chuckle.

"No." Johanna's tone becomes serious. "A family." She remembered all of the pain and suffering she went through when Snow killed her boyfriend and each of her four family members one at a time. "Everyone I've ever loved was killed by Snow. Plus I never wanted to have children because I was afraid they'd be reaped one year."

"I haven't been killed yet," Ridge said.

"Yeah but I love you like a brother. Anyway, I guess I've never really wanted a domestic life. But your's sounds pretty nice."

Ridge faced her once again. "Thank you Johanna, but I'm exhausted. Can we cut this conversation short and call it a night?" Johanna shook her head and turned off the light. "Goodnight, Johanna."

"Goodnight, Ridge." With that, Ridge turned, faced his wall, and thought of the girl from 7 that he had fallen in love with. He'd had a crush on her when he first saw her. He loved her laugh, her tenacious attitude. She was the girl he wanted to be at the alter with. The girl he wanted to see holding his child. He'd fallen for her four years earlier and had never told her. He still hadn't told her. And now she was sharing a bedroom with him. Ridge was in love with Johanna Mason, and she didn't have a clue.


	5. Everything Changes

**Author's Note: This chapter's shorter than the last couple I've been posting. Let me know what you think. Read and review. I do not own any characters created by Suzanne Collins.**

Johanna and Ridge were woken with the screeching of Annie's screams. The two ran down the hall to her room and found Annie collapsed in the doorway with two guards standing in front of her. "No," she cried as she curled into a ball.

"What happened?" Johanna asked. "What did you tell her?"

The guards looked at her and then at each other. The one on the right finally spoke up. "We just recieved word from Squad 451. Snow has been captured and arrested, but only three from the group survived: Katniss, Gale, and Peeta. Finnick was killed by mutts. Primrose Everdeen was also in the Capitol and was killed from a bomb explosion." The weight of what the man said hit Johanna. She too got to the ground. She sat next to Annie, tried to comfort her, and began to weep. "You, Mrs. Odair, and Mr. Abernathy are ordered to be transported to the Capitol by President Coin."

"For what?" Johanna was able to make out in between her cries.

"We don't know," the other guard said. "She didn't tell us. I would assume it's for the excecution of Snow."

She stood up and tried to compose herself. She wiped away the tears on her cheeks and said, "I want him to come with us." Johanna pointed at Ridge.

"Why? Who is he?" the first guard questioned her.

"He is the brother of Blight Oakley, the victor of the 69th Hunger Games and tribute from the third Quarter Quell."

"Johanna?" Ridge put a hand on her shoulder. "I don't think I should go. I wouldn't belong there."

"Ridge, please come. I... I need-" she began to choke up again.

He embraced her in a hug. "It's alright," he whispered into her ear. "Everything's going to be fine. You're strong. You can handle this by yourself." He looked her in the eye, wiped away another tear, and whispered, "You can do this." He kissed her on the forehead.

Johanna began to calm down. She looked into Ridge's kind yet sad eyes again and turned back to the guards. "Disregard my request." She stared at the ground. "When do we leave?"

"A hovercraft will arrive at noon. We'll meet you ten minutes til."

Johanna nodded and let the guards pass by. She swooped back down to the ground and tried to help Annie up. "Come on, Annie. We've got to get ready." She saw her red, puffy, and crazed eyes. "Annie, look at me. Don't give up on me, okay?" The older woman shook her head. Johanna tried to get her up again. She looked behind her. "Ridge? Can you give me a hand?"

He knelt down next to them and wrapped an arm around Annie and slowly raised her up. He held his position and walked her back into the room. After she had finished getting ready, Ridge took Annie to get breakfast while Johanna got dressed. Neither of them really ate anything, though. They just pushed the mush around on their plates. Ridge tried to break the silence. "Johanna and Blight told me what a great guy your husband was. I'm sorry for your loss."

Annie finally looked up. "Thank you." She wiped away a loose tear and tried to change the subject. "So you're Blight's brother?" He nodded. "He was always such a kind man. He was very sweet to Finnick and I. I'm sorry for your loss as well." She noticed his rugged facial features. "It's funny. You kinda look like him. You have his eyes."

Ridge smiled and began pushing the food around again. "I get that a lot."

"You care about Johanna a lot. Don't you?" Ridge nodded again. "She doesn't know you love her, right?"

His head shot up and his eyes widened. "How did you know that?"

"You made it pretty obvious. To me at least." She looked him in the eyes. "She doesn't seem to have a clue, though." Annie picked up her tray and left Ridge sitting by himself.


	6. Back Home

**Author's Note: Sorry I didn't post earlier today. Will try to get the next one up quicker. Hope you like it. I do not own the rights to characters created by Suzanne Collins. Read and review!**

Ridge anxiously waited by the guarded, locked door that led to the hovercrafts. He had watched excecution the day before and assumed that Johanna and the other surviving victors would arrive shortly.

He had begun to think after Annie left him in the cafeteria. _This is becoming pathetic_, Ridge said to himself. _If Annie, a person I just met, could tell that I'm in love with Johanna, then who knows how many people in 7 knew_. He had stayed up the night before, contemplating on whether he should confess his love to her. And standing by the door, Ridge still hadn't made up his mind.

He was pacing by the door when he heard a guard say to unlock it. He stood nervously as he saw Gale and Peeta walk by. And then, he saw her. Ridge stopped breathing for a second, but regained his composure. She was surprised to see him there and jogged towards Ridge. "He's gone. Snow's actually gone," she whispered when they embraced in a hug. She still didn't believe it all. "He's gone."

"I know," Ridge murmured into her ear.

"We can go back home." She stepped back and looked Ridge in the eye. "We can go back to 7," she said in disbelief.

Ridge began to chuckle. "I know," he repeated. She drifted back into him and before she broke off again, he leaned in and kissed her forehead. The touch of his lips lingered on her. Although he looked calm afterwards, Ridge instantly began to hate himself. _I'm a freakin' idiot._

Johanna on the other hand didn't know what to think. She overthought the situation, switching back and forth between _Did Ridge actually just kiss my forehead?_ and _Did I just enjoy it?_ In the end, she tried to hide the fact that she had blushed. "Some pilots said they're taking us back to 7 at four o'clock," she said while staring at the ground, her cheeks still scarlet.

"So," someone said behind them, "this is the guy who took my bed." Katniss Everdeen stood next to the duo from 7. She held out her hand and shook his. "Johanna was talking my ear off about you on the ride home." Ridge smiled. He took it as a good sign. Katniss turned towards Johanna. "Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that I've got to swing by the room and grab my stuff. I'm going back to 12 today."

"Yeah, I have to pack, too," Johanna spoke up. "We're going back to 7 later." The three headed down the many twist and turns of the underground hallways, back to the shared room. The day became a blur to Ridge. Between the anticipation of going back home and him wondering why he'd kissed Johanna on the forehead, he couldn't focus on something for more than five seconds. Katniss just brushed it off as him being shy, but Johanna knew that the normally outspoken guy was acting strange. She too was thinking about the kiss and speculated if he was thinking the same thing. Ridge had stayed silent by the time they were seated in the hovercraft. The kiss wouldn't leave Johanna alone, so she decided to bring it up. "Ridge?"

_Oh boy_, he thought, _here it comes._ _She's either about to blow up in my face about this and never talk to me again or she'll laugh in my face. Play it cool Oakley._ "Yeah?"

She stared into his green eyes. Those eyes that comforted her when her parents were _attacked by a grizzly bear_. The eyes that held on after her brothers had passed. The eyes that were there after her first love's funeral. The eyes that had been behind each one of her silver linings on her darkest days. Those eyes of green that she loved. "Nothing," Johanna lied as she looked down to the floor. _Please_, she said to herself, _please don't ask about that. Please don't ask-_

At first he debated whether he should ask her, but seeing that she was trying to hide a smile made Ridge think that it couldn't be that bad. "What is it?" he cut off her train of thought.

She breathed deeply. "I know I'm overthinking this, but that kiss today when I got back to 13. That wasn't anything, was it?" Johanna looked back into his eyes again and searched for the truth.

Ridge hesitated for a second, trying to look as if he were caught off guard. "No. No way," he lied. "Why do you ask?"

"You were acting weird after that. I didn't know if the kiss had anything to do with it." Ridge shook his head with her reasoning and went back to staring into the dark cabin of the hovercraft. Johanna couldn't help but realize he was lying.


	7. Smell of the Pine

**Author's Note: Shorter chapter again. Hope you like it. Read and review. I do not own characters created by Suzanne Collins.**

The smell of the pine instantly filled the room when Ridge opened up a window to his bedroom. He'd been up all night and needed some fresh air. Luckily, when the two arrived in 7, the Victor's Village was still intact. Ridge took his old home, and Johanna took hers. They were neighbors once again. Just like the night before, Ridge went back and forth on whether he should tell Johanna or not. He glanced up at the clock on the wall. 3:47. _She's asleep_, he told himself. _Then again, I should be asleep, too._ As he put on his heavy coat and boots and walked downstairs, Ridge was cursing himself internally. He finally reached her door and knocked. "Johanna?" he called. "Johanna, are you up?"

He saw a shadow move behind the glass window in the door. The door unlocked and Johanna dressed in pajama bottoms and a green t-shirt peered out. "I am now," she groggily said before she yawned. "What's up Ridge?"

"I know it's almost four in the morning, and I know you're really tired. But this has been nagging me ever since you came into my hospital room," he blurted out. "Well really it's been going on for the past four years. Anyway, it keeps me up all night. It's all I've been thinking about for the past two days. I'm sorry that I'm just now telling you this. I probably should have said it a long time ago. And I'm sorry I lied on the hovercraft today. That kiss did mean something to me. It meant something because I have loved for the past four years. And I'm not talking about that brother-sister love crap that you say is the only thing between us. I don't buy that.

"And when I told you my plans of what I was going to do when I got back here, I pictured all of them with you. Four years gave me a lot of thinking time. I want you. I want to be standing with you at some alter saying vows. I want to see you holding my firstborn. I want to be the person to grow old with you. I know I'm sounding really crazy right now, but holding all of that inside has driven me insane. So I want you. I want you today, tomorrow, next week, and for the rest of my life. I think that sounds like a pretty good plan. It might be a bit foward plan, but heck I don't even care if you have these same feelings for me. I'm just telling you so you know and so I can get it off my chest. I love you Johanna Mason." By the time he had finally finished, tears had accumulated on his cheeks and he wore his boyish grin. Johanna, too, had begun to cry and smiled as went through his speech. She opened up her arms and embraced him in a hug. "I love you," he whispered.

"I know," she soothed. "I love you, too." They held on to each other tight, not wanting to let go. Johanna began to laugh quietly into his shoulder. "It may not be to the same level that you do," she murmured, "but I do love you. And I've come to the realization that I want the same things you told me that night." She leaned back to look him in the eye. "And that I want those things with yo-"

"Oh shut up," Ridge said and pressed his lips against hers. Johanna, at first surprised that he cut her off, leaned into the kiss. Ridge found himself fighting the urge to come inside when they broke apart. "I should go." Johanna stared into his eyes and knew he was right. She didn't want to move too fast in the relationship either. She nodded and let go. Ridge walked off her front step and called back, "I'll see you later?" Johanna shook her head again. "Goodnight, Johanna."

"Goodnight, Ridge." He loved the way he said his name. He walked back over to his house, climbed up his stairs, and finally fell asleep.


	8. One Step Closer

**Author's Note: Hope you like this new addition. Read and review. I do not own the characters created by Suzanne Collins.**

Ridge bent over the wooden table top and put down the wood finish. He admired his handywork on the small box he held in his right hand. He'd opened the shop a month earlier, but he liked to keep it closed on Sundays. He didn't expect Johanna to drop by anytime soon; they were going out for dinner for their anniversary. Ridge opened the box and pulled the engagement ring out of his pocket. He stared at it intently. _Not too girly, but not too tough either._ He was pleased with the choice he had made over a month ago. He gently placed the small ring in the center of the box and laid it on the table. He noticed that it was already five. Johanna would be there in an hour. He dashed upstairs and jumped in a shower.

It had been about five minutes later when Johanna walked through the back door. "Hey Ridge. I know I'm early, but-" She stopped talking when she realized that he hadn't answered. "Ridge?" She figured he was getting ready when she heard the running water from upstrairs. She decided she would walk around the house, a thing she rarely ever did. She noticed that very little had changed since Blight had left. A thick wool blanket haphazardly thrown on the brown leather sofa. A well-used Ernest Hemingway book left on the coffee table. She walked towards the bookcase near the fireplace. Dusty frames were filled with family portraits. Johanna looked specifically at one of her boyfriend and Blight when they were younger, before their parents died. She noticed the disappearance of his 7 scar. Their eyes looked almost identical.

Johanna moved away from the shelf and moved towards Ridge's workshop to see what he had been working on. She walked past the dining room table and chairs he was making for a local family. She moved her way over to his worktable and saw the small box. Curious to see what it was, she grabbed it and peeked inside to see the ring. Johanna tried to cover her dropped jaw. "Oh my gosh," she whispered as she let a tear roll down her cheek.

"Johanna?" Ridge had come downstairs for some water when he walked by his workshop and heard his girlfriend. He backstepped and craned his neck around the corner, only to see Johanna holding the ring. "Oh crap." He ran his way into the larger room. "Well, I guess I can't really hide that now." He ran a hand through his still damp hair. His boyish grin came out again. He motioned toward the ring she held in her hand. "May I?" She handed him the ring and let another tear fall. Ridge got down on bended knee. "Johanna Mason, what a ride we've had so far. I've loved you now for the past five years, and they've been some of the best years of my life. I love that smile that you try to hide from me. I love how we have the same stubborn personality. I love how we want the same things in life. I once told you my dreams and that I imagined you being with me in all of them. I still want to share those things with you. I want to be one step closer to those dreams. So, Johanna Mason, will you marry me?"

"Yes," she said immeadiately and dropped down next to him. Her wet tears moved onto his cheeks when she kissed him.

"I had planned to propose later, after dinner. But you found the-"

She cut him off. "Oh shut up," she repeated his statement from the year before and forced her lips against his again.


	9. New Beginnings

**Author's Note: Might be the last chapter. Not really sure yet. Running out of ideas. Private message me if you have one. Hope you like it. Read and review. I do not own the characters created by Suzanne Collins.**

Ridge shot up when he heard thunder erupt from outside. At first he'd thought it was bombs being dropped. A panic look flushed his face, leaving him in a cold sweat. Johanna sprung up, too, when she felt the warmth of his arms leave her. She rubbed his back trying to calm him down. "It's alright," she murmured. "It's just a storm." She kissed him on the cheek before he laid back down.

A few minutes passed before they heard a loud squeak come from their door. "Mom?" The dark haired five-year-old boy peeked inside the room.

The two parents sat up in their bed and Johanna spoke up. "Did the storm wake you up, honey?" He shook his head quickly. "Do you want to sleep with us?" The boy nodded again. Johanna waved her hand toward them and he jumped on to the large matress. He snuggled in between his two parents and quickly fell back asleep. Johanna and Ridge stayed awake a while longer, admiring their son. Johanna pushed his hair out of his face and smiled. "Like father, like son," she whispered. She looked up and saw those kind green eyes that she loved staring at their son.

Logan had not been a surprise for the loving couple. After a year into their marriage, Johanna found herself wanting a family, even though she swore it was going to be years later down the road. Ridge on the other hand had almost always wanted to have a family. He was estatic the day she told him she was pregnant. And now, she wondered how he'd react to the one she'd discovered a day earlier. She subconsciously rested a hand on her belly and her other on Logan. Obviously he'd be happy, but they had never discussed having another child. It had been a major shock to Johanna. She also still hadn't decided on how to tell him. _I'll tell him when we're alone_, she said to herself. _In the morning._ And with that, she began to nod back to sleep.

Ridge tip-toed up the stairs the next morning, carrying a tray filled with breakfast foods ranging from scrambled eggs to waffles drench in syrup. He gently opened and closed the bedroom door, trying not to wake his wife. "Johanna," he sing-songed. The young mother opened her eyes and smiled, only to then cover her mouth and dash to the bathroom. "Johanna?" Ridge became concerned when he heard the sounds of her getting sick behind the closed door. "I'm coming in." He found his wife kneeling next to the toliet. He sat next to her and pulled her hair out of the way.

"Well, this isn't how I expected you to find out," she mumbled after she had finished. Johanna slowly got up, with the help of her husband, and walked to the sink. She first rinsed her mouth with mouthwash and then continued by brushing her teeth and washing her face. "Definately wanted it to be more romantic than that," she said as she turned back around. Johanna didn't expect the reaction she at first got from Ridge. His face was filled with confusion. "You really are clueless, aren't you?" He still hadn't understood what was going on. She walked over to him, looked into the eyes she loved, and said, "I'm pregnant."

His face broke into that same boyish grin she'd seen many times before. He had it when he'd proposed, at their wedding, when she told him she was pregnant with Logan, and when Logan was born. Those were some of the happiest moments of both of their lives, and they both knew this one would be added to the list, as well. "Really?" he asked to confirm it. Johanna nodded excitedly. "That's amazing."

He was leaning in to kiss her when they heard Logan knocking at the bedroom door. "Dad, are you going to come back downstairs?"

The parents began to laugh at their son's unfoutunate timing. Ridge held up his finger, telling Johanna to wait a second. He opened up the door to find his son leaning against the door frame. "Why don't you come hang out in here with us?" The boy quickly ran past his father and avoided the breakfast tray when he landed on the bed. Ridge's and Johanna's eyes met as she sat on the bed. _Should we tell him_, Ridge's eyes seemed to ask. Johanna understood and shook her head. "Hey champ, wanna know what your mom and I were just talking about?"

Logan leaned his head back and tried to look at his father. "What?"

"Mommy," Ridge said while pointing at Johanna, "is gonna have a baby."

"Really?" he copied his father. When both parents nodded, Logan had that same smile that Johanna would always fall for. Especially with his dark green eyes. "So I get to be a big brother?" Ridge and Johanna shook their heads again, and Logan looked up again with the smile they couldn't resist.


	10. Trying to Forget

**Author's note: Well, I thought I was done with this story. Took me a long time to figure out what I should add. Hope you like it. Read and review. I do not own characters created by Suzanne Collins.**

Although the sun was just peaking through the pines, Johanna and Ridge were already up. It had become their least favorite day the year before. While Ridge opted to sit by the fireplace, watching the flames flicker and drinking coffee, his wife quickly got dressed and avoided her family as she walked outside with her axe. She wacked at the first tree she saw, trying to push down the pang of hurt building up inside of her.

With each chop she tried to forget the ones she lost. For her parents. _Chop_. For her brothers. _Chop_. For Bear. _Chop_.

And for Lily. _Chop_. Tears begin to form in her eyes as she started again.

Ridge got up from his spot on the floor and moved outside after putting on boots and a jacket. He wandered over towards the tree line, the cold February chill paling his face. "Johanna," he said as he neared. She turned, her cheeks now streaked with tears. She dropped the axe and rushed towards her husband. The two embraced. She nuzzled into him, burying her face in his shirt. "It's alright," he whispered. "It's going to be alright." He didn't believe the words himself, but tried to form a brave face.

"No it's not," she made out through the tears. "It's my fault. All of their deaths are on me." Johanna trembled with every word.

"Don't say that," Ridge soothed. He rocked he back and forth. "None of it was your fault." He cupped her face in his hands and bent down so he was eye level with her. "It had nothing you did, okay? Don't go blaming yourself." She nodded moving back into him. "It's getting cold. Logan should be up soon, too. Want to go back inside?" Johanna nodded again, not letting go. Ridge knelt and picked up her axe. He scooped up Johanna in one fluid motion, heading towards the front porch. He didn't stop until he had creeped up the stairs and laid Johanna on their bed. She climbed under the blankets, and he knelt down next to her. Ridge pushed away the hair hiding her eyes. "Want something to eat? I was going to go make some eggs." She remained silent and shook her head. He kissed her forehead like he did years earlier. "Love you."

Once Ridge was downstairs, Logan sneaked into the bedroom. He climbed onto the bed and cuddled next to his mother. She turned to face his beautiful green eyes and bright smile. Johanna tried to put a smile on her face as she wondered what Lily would have looked like at his age. "Mom?"

She pushed his bangs off of his forehead. "Yeah sweetheart?"

"Can we go play today?" At such a young age, the boy didn't understand nor remember what had happened a year before.

"We'll see," she whispered. "Why don't you go help your dad with breakfast?" Logan got up and ran downstairs. Johanna laid silent there for a while, thinking about that terrible day.

Johanna had named her after her red-headed friend in 13. She had gone into labor two months before her due date. Although the actual birth had no complications, her daughter was too small and frail. Lily was alive for an hour, died in her mother's arms. There was nothing they could do, but Johanna still felt responsible for her death. "I know what you're thinking." She hadn't noticed that Ridge had walked back into the room, a tray filled with scrambled eggs, bacon, and orange juice in his hands. "You know that I can read you like a book." He set the tray down on her lap and sat next to her. "Johanna there was nothing we could have done differently." He grabbed her hand and looked her in the eyes. "We've been blessed with a beautiful little boy, already. This was just a hiccup in our life together."

She smiled a real smile. "You're too good," she murmured as she leaned in to kiss him.

He paused for a moment, before their lips met. "You're better."


	11. A New Day

**Author's note: Final chapter for now, not sure if I'll add to it or not. It's kind of a short chapter. Hope you like it. Read and review. I do not own characters created by Suzanne Collins.**

Johanna watched Ridge and Logan chasing each other from the porch. They'd found a forgotten football in the shed earlier in the day. A ligh breeze blew through the tall grass. The eight-year-old was starting to look more and more like his father every day. He was already tall for his age and locks from his spiked brown hair had begun to cling to his forehead. But the clearest resemblance was in their eyes. Logan's green eyes shown bright as the sunlight played across his face.

Just as she was about to take a sip from her cooled cup of coffee, Johanna heard her child begin to whimper. She quickly walked over to the bassinet Ridge had made and picked up the crying newborn. "Hunter Finnley," she whispered. She looked down at her son as she rocked him. "I know," she said as if she were talking to an adult. "I want to go play, too." Johanna got up and walked to the railing. "Do you see Daddy?" Ridge saw the two and headed towards them tired. She laid Hunter back down into the cradle as her husband pounded up the steps, Logan not far behind. Ridge lifted her up so she was a little taller and spun her around. "Ridge," she yelled. "Put me down." He did as his wife said. "You smell," she mumbled before kissing him.

They broke apart. "And yet you still kiss me." His boyish grin had come out and had begun to smirk.

"Ew," Logan gawked while standing in the doorframe.

Johanna turned her attention to her elder son. "You," she said pointing a finger at him, "also smell. You need to shower before dinner." Logan made a face, but grudgingly left the two parents alone. She moved back into him. "You need to shower, too," she murmured in his ear.

"Care to join me?" His grin and eyes were brighter than before she fell in love with him. She slapped him playfully on the arm. He put his hands up, as if surrendering. "Alright, alright." He was ready to walk back inside when he saw Johanna lingering near the bassinet. He wrapped his arms around her from behind. They watched their son squirm, trying to rest comfortably. "Your family would be proud."

She looked up into those kind eyes. "I wish Blight could have seen this. He would have been so proud of you."

They stood in their embrace, now facing each other. "I'm proud of you." Johanna smiled as she turned back towards Hunter, leaning into Ridge. She reached down, held their son, and retreated back inside of their home.


End file.
